


Coup de foudre

by ChopinWorshipper



Category: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: F/M, from her pov, lanyon and lady summers meet for the first time, the meeting from his pov is described in 'Nothing and Everything'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:21:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22721620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChopinWorshipper/pseuds/ChopinWorshipper
Summary: Finished this story just in time for V-Day. This is basically Lanyon’s and Lady Summers’ first meeting from her POV.
Relationships: Dr. Hastie Lanyon/Original Female Character (kind of)
Kudos: 5





	Coup de foudre

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CelticSaemi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelticSaemi/gifts), [moon_hedgehog](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moon_hedgehog/gifts).



> After my last one-shot, I wanted to write something more light-hearted and romantic for V-Day.

Lady Summers had researched the best physicians in London, because she was looking for a new personal doctor.

Not because her old one had been incompetent, oh no.

Johann was an old friend of hers and had been her doctor so far, but he had recommended her to look for a new one.

She was a bit confused at that advice, but followed it – after all, he knew what he was doing and she had full faith in him and his abilities.

The little countess was pleasantly surprised to find, that one of the best surgeons wasn't living far away from her. He was living right across Cavendish Square. How convenient!

So she took a day off and went across the square to introduce herself to this doctor.

He better not dare to send her off with a refusal!

When she rang the bell, it was answered by a tall, relatively young butler ( _sees women as nothing more than objects,_ _cheating on his wife, has two kids with his mistress and gives more of his wage to her than to his wife and their seven children, note to self, rat him out to his employer_ ) who guided her to the waiting room.

When he told her in a rather unfriendly manner: “Wait here until the Doctor receives you, Miss-”

She cut him off sharply: “It's 'Milady' to you, young man, and if you ever dare to order around the Countess of Cornwall again, I will tell your employer about how horribly you treat your family.”

He gawked at her.

Then he slowly backed out of the room, not even giving her so much as an apology.

_Rude!_

Lady Summers glared after him, took a minute to compose herself and decided that she was unwilling to wait.

So she strode over to the door to the consultation room and peeked inside.

There she finally got to see the doctor face to face or, rather face to back, as he was searching for something in his cabinets.

He was chubby, of average height and was wearing his hair in a long ponytail, that went down to his waist.

She didn't know why, but something about the man made her feel weird. There was something about him that painfully reminded her of her beloved late husband.

Maybe it was that air of stability and reliability, that surrounded him, or the red-brown hair; it was just the same shade of red-brown as her darling copperhead's had been. Wasn't there a word for red-brown in English? Oh yes: auburn.

Lady Summers almost laughed at her own foolishness.

Stupid her, her husband had died in 1865! And this man wasn't him – he wasn't even like him!

That much was evident by his thoughts alone.

Right now, he was searching for a disinfectant to clean an injection needle with (uwagh!) and being extremely irritated, because he couldn't find it. Her James had been sweet and patient and wouldn't have got agitated over of something so minor.

And the doctor's movements were brisk and tense – he was stressed. And there were a few white strands in his hair, which led her to estimate that he couldn't be much younger than forty.

So why was this man reminding her of her late husband?! This made no sense whatsoever!

Finally she decided to find out by scanning his mind.

However, what she saw greatly disturbed her.

_Oh my god! That's awful! Poor man!_

Suddenly she felt a strong wish to help him.

After watching him search around for a bit, she finally decided to make herself known.

“Excuse me, are you Dr. Lanyon?”

Stupid question, but she had to pretend that she hadn't just read his mind.

He paused, but didn't turn around.

“Yes, that's me. How can I help you, Miss?”

His voice was certainly agreeable enough; firm, but gentle and warm.

Normally being addressed as “Miss” agitated her, as she obviously wasn't.

But the man (who his mind had told her was more than a year older than her) hadn't turned around to look at her yet. And she did have a very girlish voice.

For some reason she had to laugh: “I'm not a Miss, Doctor.”

 _Finally_ he turned around!

His face was somewhat cute. He had chubby and very reddish cheeks and-

Oh, he has differently coloured eyes! Isn't there a word for that? Oh, who cares, they're so beautiful!

She watched in amusement, as his mismatched eyes (one pale greyish blue, the other amber) looked her up and down in interest and curiosity.

To her satisfaction he observed surprisingly quick, that he was talking to a mature woman and not to some young, naïve maiden, despite her size and youthful appearance.

The scientific and medical way in which he regarded her beauty amused her.

Lady Summers introduced herself and told him that she was looking for a new doctor.

Just for good measure, she added some flattery: “I heard that you're one of the best in London.”

He blushed, which was both cute and satisfying; she liked a man with humility.

“Thank you, Mada- Milady”, he corrected himself.

Then he fetched two chairs and put the tea set on his desk onto a nearby table.

“Do sit down, if you don't mind”, he asked, “I would like to interview you, before I make a decision. Do forgive this boldness, but I already have a lot of patients.”

“I don't take offence”, she assured him, “I already assumed that a competent doctor like you would be a busy one.”

Another blush.

_Alright, maybe I should stop, before I make the poor man uncomfortable._

The interview passed in a whim.

She gave him basic information about herself, told him that she was a Prussian aristocrat, who had married into English nobility and was grieving both her husband and father.

Then she told him how old she was and added as a joke: “By female standards I'm old. Let's see how long I will maintain my youthful appearance, before the demon of old age catches up to me.”

Dr. Lanyon laughed.

When she told him that she liked to work out, she was a bit agitated about how surprised he was. Why did it never occur to men that women could like sports too?!

But when she told him about her unending pain, he frowned.

“If you say 'unending pain', I assume it has nothing to do with women's usual monthly afflictions?”

That was … blunt.

She sighed and shook her head. “No, but I wish it had.” She really did.

His frown deepened. “You don't happen to know the cause yet? The more details I can work with-”

“I do know”, she informed him. “But I would rather not speak of it. I don't know you well yet and I'm quite certain that you wouldn't believe it.”

Her answer obviously displeased him, but he decided to accommodate her and not pry, which she was grateful for.

The rest of the conversation was light-hearted and fun and she could tell that he was already growing very fascinated with her.

Good.

Because she had just decided that she wanted no other doctor.

This man was loyal and reliable and wouldn't ask uncomfortable questions, if she asked him not to.

And he clearly liked her and would be a good physician to her.

Sure enough, she managed to raise his spirits over the course of their talk and by the time she left, both were feeling lighter than in years and she was now one of his patients.

For the rest of the day, her thoughts circled around him.

About his smile that could brighten up someone's day, despite their owner being one of the most long-suffering men she had met.

About the unhappiness in his life that he really didn't deserve.

And about all the good character traits that made her certain that he would be a wonderful friend to her.

When she came to her house and her butler let her in, he remarked: “You're quite merry, Sahib.”

“Certainly am”, the Lady agreed gaily, although their conversation was actually:

“ _You like that doctor, don't you, big sister?”_

“ _Sameer, if you make a suggestive joke, you will eat corpses for the rest of the month.”_

Despite the evil threat, they both grinned like the mischievous half-siblings they were.

Then she retreated to her office to do paperwork.

But she found, that it was hard to concentrate on her work, because she was thinking about Dr. Lanyon and grinning like an idiot.

_Oh dear. Please forgive me, James._

Lady Summers laughed to herself.

She and her new doctor would get along just fine.

_I should send Johann a note to thank him._


End file.
